Sports community commentary

ABSTRACT

Live sports community commentary technology operable to provide viewers with live sports commentary, and provide commentators with a means to provide commentary to viewers is disclosed. The live sports community commentary technology presents commentary from commentators on a sports event to viewers of the sports event, and provides feedback, motivation, and incentives to the commentators.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to internet communication and more particularly to internet community communication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many spectator sports, which are characterized by the presence of spectators, viewers, or watchers, at their matches. For instance, cricket, international football, American football, horse racing, auto racing, boxing, basketball and baseball are widely watched spectator sports. They may be professional or amateur sports. Such sports are often watched or listened to on television, radio, internet, wireless devices, and other modes of communication.

The enjoyment of a game is often enhanced, for many people, by listening to or reading comments and observations by commentators. These comments generally include scores, highlights, and analysis. They also often include background material on the teams, players, and history of the sport. The comments may be in the form of periodic bulletins, or continuous broadcasting. They also usually include play-by-play (ball-by-ball in cricket) observations on the current activity on the playing field. In television and radio broadcasting, play-by-play means the reporting of a sporting event with a voiceover describing the details of the action of the game in progress. There is a long history of professional live broadcast commentators for sporting events, and many professional and collegiate sports teams have their own commentator who is a recognized voice of the team on radio broadcasts and are often identified with the team as much as the players or coaches. In addition, television networks and cable channels will have their own commentators who are identified with the network. Many commentators work in more than one sport.

As well as being informative, the commentary gives the viewer a feeling of community. The connection to a team or player is often a personal matter, i.e. “my” team, and the relationship of the viewer with the commentator is very subjective. One commentator may be loved by some people and hated by others, and sometimes there is a love-hate relationship such as that with American football and boxing commentators whom people love to hate. Commentators can provide emotional expression or an emotional cushion such as expressing the thrill of victory, or cushioning the agony of defeat.

The enjoyment of the game and the feeling of community often depend on the commentator. The more choices of commentators, the higher the probability that the viewer will find a commentator he or she likes and feels connected to. Currently, there is limited choice for the consumer of live text commentary. Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods that provide viewer choice for sports event commentary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Live sports community commentary technology operable to provide viewers with live sports commentary, and commentators with a means to provide commentary to viewers is disclosed. The live sports community commentary technology presents commentary from commentators on a sports event to viewers of the sports event, and provides feedback, motivation, and incentives to the commentators.

A first embodiment comprises a live sports community commentary system. The system comprises logic for providing a commentary viewing webpage suitable for presentation on a display. The commentary viewing webpage is operable to present commentary from a commentator. The commentary viewing webpage may include an overview area and a commentary viewing area.

The system also comprises logic for providing a commentary channel selection webpage suitable for presentation on the display. The commentary channel selection webpage is operable to present a set of sports commentary channels. The system also comprises logic for receiving a choice of at least one sports commentary channel from the set of sports commentary channels, and logic for providing at least one sports commentary channel to the commentary viewing webpage based on the choice of at least one sports commentary channel from the set of sports commentary channels.

The system may also include a user monitor module operable to monitor consumers of the commentary, and a feedback module operable to provide feedback to the commentator based on a quantitative measure of the consumers determined by the user monitor module. The system may also include an abuse report module configured to receive complaints from consumers of abusive or offensive language from commentators.

A second embodiment comprises a method for live sports community commentary. The method comprises receiving a sports commentary from a commentator, and providing the sports commentary for presentation on a webpage. The method further comprises determining a number of viewers of the sports commentary, and providing feedback to the commentator based on the number of viewers. The method may also comprise receiving an abuse report, wherein the abuse report comprises a complaint about the commentary, and modify the feedback based on the abuse report.

A third embodiment comprises a computer-readable medium comprising program code for executing a live sports community commentary. The program code comprises receiving a sports commentary from a commentator, and providing the sports commentary for presentation on a webpage. The program code further comprises determining a number of viewers, and providing feedback to the commentator based on how many viewers are viewing the commentary. The program code may also comprise receiving an abuse report, such as a complaint about the commentary, and modifying the feedback based on the abuse report.

A fourth embodiment comprises a computer-readable medium comprising program code for executing a live sports community commentary. The program code includes code for providing a listing of a set of sports commentary channels for browsing on a first webpage, enabling selection of at least one sports commentary channel, and providing sports commentary from the at least one sports commentary for display on a second webpage. The program code may also include code for reporting an abuse, such as a complaint about the commentary, rating a sports commentary channel, browsing for additional sports commentary channels on the first webpage, and adding the additional sports commentary channels to the second webpage.

A fifth embodiment comprises an interface for presentation on a webpage. The interface comprises a listing of commentary channels operable for choosing at least one sports commentary channel by a user, and at least one popularity indicator such as star rating for each of the sports commentary channels. The sports commentary channels are operable to receive commentary from a commentary submission webpage. The commentary submission webpage may include at least one commentary submission area operable to allow input from a commentator, and at least one submit button operable to allow the commentator to submit the commentary. Selection of a commentary channel causes a submitted commentary to display on a commentary viewing webpage.

The interface may also include a favorites icon for activation by a user. The favorites icon when activated by the user obtains a listing of commentary channels from a favorites database. The commentary channels may be added to or removed from the favorite channels via buttons.

The interface may also include at least one description for each of the commentary channels, and a sorting option icon configured for activation by a user. The sorting option icon when activated may cause an order of the listing of the commentary channels to change. The interface may also include a commentary viewing webpage operable to present commentary and an abuse report button operable to allow a commentary consumer to report improper commentary.

Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure, in accordance with one or more various embodiments, is described in detail with reference to the following figures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader's understanding of the disclosure and should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily made to scale.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary live sports community commentary system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary sports commentary viewing webpage for a cricket match according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary sports commentary viewing webpage for an international football game according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary commentary submission webpage according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary commentary channel selection webpage for selecting a commentary channel according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary sports commentary viewing webpage showing a report abuse button according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system that may be used in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary flow diagram illustrating a producer side of a live sports community commentary process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary flow diagram illustrating a consumer side of a live sports community commentary process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the following description of exemplary embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which it is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments of the invention.

In order to improve the availability of live sport commentary, embodiments of the disclosure provide online access for the general public to produce commentary for sporting events. Embodiments of the invention will unlock the production of live text commentary to the community at large with each individual bringing his/her own flavor to covering a game.

The present disclosure is directed toward systems and methods for providing live sports community commentary. Embodiments of the invention are described herein in the context of one practical application, namely, live sports community commentary for a cricket match. Embodiments of the invention, however, are not limited to such cricket match applications, and the methods described herein may also be utilized in other applications such as most sports that can have live coverage in the form of text commentary on the Internet. As would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this description, these are merely examples and the invention is not limited to operating in accordance with these examples.

Cricket is an extremely popular game followed by more than a billion people across the United Kingdom, India, Australia, South Africa, Caribbean islands, and more. A cricket match comprises a series of “overs”, and each over of a match consists of 6 ball throws to a “batsman”. A match has 50 overs per team. Its two most popular forms are one-day cricket, which is played across the whole day, and test cricket that is played across 5 days!

Following the live text commentary of a game in progress is extremely popular in many countries including India and the United Kingdom. Live Commentary is popular for cricket as the game's length (i.e., one whole day in the shorter version and five days in the longer version) lends itself well to internet consumption of information. In countries like the United Kingdom, only those who have subscribed to expensive cable subscriptions have access to the live commentary while others follow the commentary on the internet. Currently, online commentary is primarily a push product with consumers viewing what is available from a small number of major websites. The consumers may not get the type of coverage they are looking for.

For example, user A is looking for over-by-over coverage, but instead finds most sites produce only ball-by-ball commentary which is too detailed for his/her liking. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) website and a few other websites in the United Kingdom do over-by-over commentary but they restrict themselves to matches in which the United Kingdom is involved. For another example, user B is looking for coverage which covers the emotional part of the game and not just the technical aspects (“Flintoff smashes the ball outside the stadium—McGrath walks straight up to Flintoff and throws a few expletives at him”), but she/he cannot find a website feed that matches her/his needs.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a live sports community commentary system 100 in accordance with some embodiments of the invention. System 100 comprises a client 102, and a server 103. Generally, the client 102 (or a plurality of clients) may access the server 103. The server 103 and the client 102 according to the embodiments of the invention may include any one of various types of computer devices, having, e.g., a processing unit, a memory (including a permanent storage device), and a communication interface, as well as other conventional computer components (e.g., input device, such as a keyboard and mouse, output device, such as display). For example, the client 102 may include a desktop computer, laptop computer, mobile device such as a mobile phone, web-enabled phone, smart phone, and the like.

The client 102 may communicate with the server 103 using suitable communication interfaces via a network 132, such as the Internet. The clients 102 and the server 103 may communicate, in part or in whole, via wireless or hardwired communications, such as Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b wireless, or the like. Additionally, communication between the client 102 and the server 103 may include various servers such as a mail server, mobile server, and the like.

The client 102 may comprise an interface 104 which includes a commentary viewing webpage 106, a commentary channel selection webpage 112, and a commentary submission webpage 114. The interface 104 is operable to change specific behaviors within a specific webpage 106/112/114, in response to mouse, keyboard, stylus in case of a mobile device, or at specified timing events. The user can access and manipulate sports community commentary webpages 106/112/114 as explained in more details in the context of FIGS. 2-9 below. The client 102 may also include a display (not shown) operable to show the live sports community commentary webpages 106/112/114. The display may be on a computer webpage, overhead monitor, kiosk, sporting event seat terminal, or other forms of display. The display may be presented by a server such as, for example, a website server. The display may be used by producers and consumers of the commentary to use and operate the live sports community commentary system 100.

The server 103 may be programmed to format data, accessed from local or remote databases or other sources of data, for presentation to users 101 of the client 102, for example, in the formats discussed in detail below. The server 103 may utilize various Web data interface techniques such as the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) protocol and associated applications (or “scripts”), Java™ “servlets”, i.e., Java™ applications running on the Web server module 126, or the like to present information and receive input from the client 102. The server 103 may be implemented as, for example, a computer program, and may include a web server module 126, e.g., Apache™ or the like. The server 103, although described herein in the singular, may actually comprise plural computers, programs, devices, backends, and the like, communicating (wired or wireless) and cooperating to perform the functions described herein.

The server 103 can be a centralized facility, or any or all of its various functions can be distributed across a plurality of facilities or locations in a geographically diverse manner. Further, the various functions described herein as attributable to live sports community commentary can be distributed to and among the various facilities the server 103 services.

Server 103 may include: a user monitor module 118 operable to monitor consumers of the commentary, and a feedback module 122 operable to provide feedback to the commentators based on a quantity of the consumers determined by the user monitor module. The server 103 may also comprise an abuse report module 120 operable to receive complaints of abuse from consumers, and a web server module 126. Various elements of the server 103 may communicate in part or in whole via wireless or hardwired communications link 130, such as Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b wireless, or the like.

User monitor module 118 is operable to monitor consumers of the commentary viewing webpage 106. The user monitor module 118 records the activity of the consumers such as how many consumers are viewing each commentary channel. User monitor module 106 preferably operates on one or more computers, servers, workstations, or other data gathering, processing, computing and reporting systems. User monitor module 106 may also include data storage, record keeping and retrieval capabilities. User monitor module 118 can include one or more databases to store the various data and other information used in the live sports community commentary system 100. Data storage can be across any physical or logical data storage architecture, and any of a number of database models can be implemented. In one embodiment, a relational database structure is used to facilitate creation of responses from various separate sources of data.

Feedback module 122 is operable to provide feedback to the commentators based on a quantity of the consumers determined by the user monitor module 118. The feedback may be seeing the number of consumers of the commentary channel, feedback comments from consumers, reward points, rating, money, and other forms of remuneration.

The system 100 may also comprise an abuse report module 120 operable to receive complaints of abuse from consumers. This may protect the service provider from charges and law suits for libel, slander, and privacy violations by the commentator. The user may activate a report abuse button as explained in more detail in the context of FIG. 6 below to report an abuse.

The user can access and manipulate sports community commentary webpages 106/112/114 as described in more detail below.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary commentary viewing webpage 200 showing how a sports commentary for a cricket match might appear on a display according to an embodiment of the invention. The commentary viewing webpage 200 may include an overview area 202 of the cricket match, and a commentary viewing area 216.

The overview area 202 may include, but not limited to, the day of the test match 204, a row with names of two teams 206, a row with top player statistics 208, run rate and current partnership 210, information on the last wicket 212, and previous overs 214. In this example embodiment, the commentary viewing area 216 (see 110 in FIG. 1) is presented below the overview area 202 (see 108 in FIG. 1). The commentary viewing area 216 is operable to show commentary from a commentator to consumers of the commentary viewing area 216. For example, in FIG. 2, the commentary viewing area 216 shows a ball-by-ball description of the match illustrating how cricket commentary might appear on a display that may be coupled to the interface 104.

A similar webpage can be used to show sports commentary on an international football game. FIG. 3 is an illustration of another exemplary commentary viewing webpage 300 (see 106 in FIG. 1) showing how a sports commentary for an international football game might appear on a display that may be coupled to the interface 104 according to an embodiment of the invention. The webpage 300 may includes an overview area 301 (see 108 in FIG. 1) and a coverage area 318 (see 110 in FIG. 1).

The overview area 301 includes a timeline 302, a timeline button 314, a Facts button 312, a game venue 316. The time line 302 provides a graphical presentation of the game's lapsed time. The timeline 302 is selected by activating the timeline button 314, and the display could be changed to show game statistics (not shown) by activating the Facts button 212. The overview area 301 also shows the venue 316 (e.g., Old Trafford stadium).

The coverage area 318, includes various selection tabs which can be selected by a user to change the information displayed on the coverage area 318. For example, the user/consumer can choose play-by-play 304 (shown), team statistics 306 (not shown), player statistics 308 (not shown), or a live table 310 (not shown) of ongoing statistics. A commentator sends his/her commentary to the coverage area 318 by using a submission webpage as explained below.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary commentary submission webpage 400 according to an embodiment of the invention. The commentary submission webpage 400 is used by the commentator to compose and submit commentary to any of the commentary channels to which he or she is a commentator. In this example, there are three commentary composing areas 402/404/406 for three commentary channels. While in FIG. 4 three commentary composing areas 402/404/406 are illustrated for submitting the live sport commentary, there may be any number of channels suitable for submitting the live sport commentary according to embodiments of the invention.

The commentator may have the option to have a unique display name and choose the type of commentary. For example, the commentator may choose a type of commentary such as play-by-play, ball-by-ball, over-by-over, or bulletin. The type of commentary may affect the frequency of updates. For example, ball-by-ball will be updated every minute, over-by-over will be updated every four minutes, and bulletin will updated every one hour. Once the commentator has chosen the type of commentary, a commentary submission webpage 400 may be provided to her/him by system 100 that will make it easy for her/him to submit his/her commentary. For example, if she/he chooses to produce over-by-over commentary, system 100 will provide a webpage such as the commentary submission webpage 400 with a commentary composing area (i.e., a text box) such as 402/404/406 for composing the comments, and submit button such as 408/410/412 to submit her/his commentary. After composing his or her thoughts and typing them into one of the submission areas 402/404/406, she or he clicks the submit button 408/410/412 for the respective commentary submission areas 402/404/406.

A single commentator may use each of the channels 408/410/412 for giving commentary of different types for a single sporting event, or may use each of the channels 402/404/406 for different sporting events. The commentator will also have an option to quit a commentary channel 402/404/406 at any point in time.

A benefit to commentator is the ability for publishing his/her thoughts on the game and the gratification that a number of viewers are currently following her/his coverage of the game. At any point in time he/she can see how his/her channel is rated by the community and how many people are currently viewing his commentary. A benefit to the commentary consumer is a potentially huge choice of commentary producers to choose from and gets a better quality of coverage. The service provider benefits by becoming the “go to” portal for the cricket fan, both those who want to produce content and those who consume it, thereby becoming the portal where the fans meet while following the match online.

Embodiments of this disclosure, may take content production directly to the service provider community. The consumer looking to follow the match will have multiple live text commentary feeds to choose from. This can be a powerful engine to create on online meeting place when the match goes live. The consumer of the commentary may choose from various sports commentary channels as explained below.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary commentary channel selection webpage 500 to allow a consumer of a live sports commentary to select a commentary channel according to an embodiment of the invention. The commentary channel selection webpage 500 provides a variety of functions. For example, a commentary consumer may click on my favorite channels 502 to view the favorites list. The commentary consumer may choose to sort by status 504, activity 506, rating 508, or type 510. The commentary channel selection webpage 500 may also display information for each channel such as: channel name 512, channel status 514, commentary type 516, channel rating 518, number of viewers of the channel 520, last activity 522, commentator name 524, and short description of the channel 526.

My favorite channels 502 option button modifies the display to show the channels selected by the user as favorites. This simplifies the consumer's selection process if the user only wants to consider choices from the favorites list, which are generally previously viewed and liked channels.

Whether viewing all available channels or the favorites list, the channels on the commentary channel selection webpage 500 can be sorted by channel status 504, activity 506, rating 508, or type 510. The status 514 of the channel lets the user know if the channel is currently live, inactive, or offline, where live is a channel with regular content being streamed, inactive means a channel that has been live but is has exceeded an inactivity measure like a time limit, and offline means commentary is not being provided for the channel. The activity 522 may be any of various measures of a level of activity such as how many minutes have elapsed since the last comment.

The rating 518 may be a valuation based on valuations submitted by commentary consumers, website provided valuations, or other valuation method. There may be a reputation engine to help the online consumer make a choice among the many who are producing live text commentary. For example, the rating 518 could be based on ratings/reviews of other viewers or could be based on the number of current “eye balls” covering a commentary producer's content. This can be a powerful engine to create an online meeting place when the match goes live.

The commentary type 516 may be any such commentary method such as over-by-over, ball-by-ball, play-by-play, or bulletin. Sorting the commentary type 516 may be a sort by a qualitative measure that groups the types of commentary such as an alphabetical sort. The commentary consumer will have the option of choosing the mode in which he wants to follow the match, for example, every ball, every over, or a periodic bulletin.

The number of viewers of the channel 520 is also an indication of the popularity of the commentator. The consumer can list all the available commentators by user ratings or the “highest number viewed”, so a commentator whose content is viewed by the maximum number of people will be listed first.

In addition to the sortable columns, additional useful information is provided. The channel name 512 identifies the sports commentary channel, and may be used by the commentator to characterize and advertise the channel with names such as “India Rocks” or “Yay aussie” showing the intended bias and view point of the commentator. The short description of the channel 526 is also a way for the commentator to characterize and advertise the channel by describing the channel. The commentator name 524 is also a way for the commentary consumer to identify names of friendly commentators or names of commentators they prefer to avoid.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary sports commentary viewing webpage with an abuse report option according to an embodiment of the invention. The commentary channel name 602 is displayed along with a commentary area 610 showing the commentary. A slide bar 612 allows the user to scroll to look at comments not shown on the commentary area 610. An abuse report button 604 gives the option to “report abuse” if any one is producing inappropriate content. He will also have the option to rate and review a particular commentator. An add-as-favorite 606 button allows the commentary consumer to mark the channel as a favorite 606 and add the commentary consumer to a buddy list. A remove 608 button removes the channel from the favorites list and removes the commentary consumer from the buddy list. The buddy list may be used by the system to notify commentary consumers when their favorite channels become active.

FIG. 7 illustrates a typical computing system 700 that may be employed to implement processing functionality in embodiments of the invention. For example, computing systems 700 of this type may be used in clients and servers. Those skilled in the relevant art will also recognize how to implement the invention using other computer systems or architectures. Computing system 700 may represent, for example, a desktop, laptop or notebook computer, hand-held computing device (PDA, cell phone, palmtop, etc.), mainframe, server, client, or any other type of special or general purpose computing device as may be desirable or appropriate for a given application or environment. Computing system 700 can include one or more processors, such as a processor 704. Processor 704 can be implemented using a general or special purpose processing engine such as, for example, a microprocessor, microcontroller or other control logic. In this example, processor 704 is connected to a bus 702 or other communication medium.

Computing system 700 can also include a main memory 708, such as random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 704. Main memory 708 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 704. Computing system 700 may likewise include a read only memory (“ROM”) or other static storage device coupled to bus 702 for storing static information and instructions for processor 704.

The computing system 700 may also include information storage system 710, which may include, for example, a media drive 712 and a removable storage interface 720. The media drive 712 may include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed or removable storage media, such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a CD or DVD drive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive. Storage media 718, may include, for example, a hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, CD or DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is read by and written to by media drive 712. As these examples illustrate, the storage media 718 may include a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein particular computer software or data.

In alternative embodiments, information storage devices 710 may include other similar components for allowing computer programs or other instructions or data to be loaded into computing system 700. Such components may include, for example, a removable storage unit 722 and a storage unit interface 720, such as a program cartridge and cartridge interface, a removable memory (for example, a flash memory or other removable memory module) and memory slot, and other removable storage units 722 and interfaces 720 that allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 718 to computing system 700.

Computing system 700 can also include a communications interface 724. Communications interface 724 can be used to allow software and data to be transferred between computing system 700 and external devices. Examples of communications interface 724 can include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet or other NIC card), a communications port (such as for example, a USB port), a PCMCIA slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface 724 are in the form of signals which can be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 724. These signals are provided to communications interface 724 via a channel 728. This channel 728 may carry signals and may be implemented using a wireless medium, wire or cable, fiber optics, or other communications medium. Some examples of a channel include a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link, a network interface, a local or wide area network, and other communications channels 728 to perform features or functions of embodiments of the invention. Note that the code may directly cause the processor to perform specified operations, be compiled to do so, and/or be combined with other software, hardware, and/or firmware elements (e.g., libraries for performing standard functions) to do so.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary flow diagram illustrating a producer side of a live sports community commentary process 800 according to an embodiment of the invention. The various tasks performed in connection with process 800 may be performed by software, hardware, firmware, a computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the process method, or any combination thereof. It should be appreciated that process 800 may include any number of additional or alternative tasks, the tasks shown in FIG. 8 need not be performed in the illustrated order, and process 800 may be incorporated into a more comprehensive procedure or process having additional functionality not described in detail herein. For illustrative purposes, the following description of process 800 may refer to elements mentioned above in connection with FIGS. 1-7. In various embodiments, portions of process 800 may be performed by different elements of systems 100-700, e.g., interface, user monitor module, feedback module, web server module, and abuse report module.

The live sports community commentary process 800 may begin by a commentator logging into the live sports community commentary system (task 802). If the commentator does not have an existing login account, the commentator may create one. A custom designed login system or an existing account set up method, such as those used for login to sports news sites, may be used.

The live sports community commentary process 800 may then continue with the commentator deciding whether to use an existing channel or create a new commentary channel (inquiry task 804). If he/she creates a new commentary channel (task 806), the channel is initialized and he/she proceeds to choose the type of commentary (task 810), otherwise he/she selects an existing commentary channel (task 808), and then proceeds to choose the type of commentary (task 810) without channel initialization. Here he/she can choose a unique online display name such as over by over. He/she can choose between different forms of coverage: ball-by-ball commentary, over-by-over commentary, periodic bulletin and so on depending on the type of sport.

The commentator then decides whether to write a commentary (inquiry task 812), for example, when a sporting event is occurring, or the commentator may decide not to write a commentary in which case the channel is placed offline (task 814) but still exists for future use. The commentator may wish to create the channel to prepare for an event later in the day. For example, if the commentator decides to write a commentary live, then the channel is given a “live” status (i.e. it is now usable by a user) (task 816), and the commentary is published on the channel (task 818). The commentator then inputs his or her comments live on the commentary area provided on the channel.

Process 800 may also keep track of “buddies” who are consumers who frequently view the commentary channel. The buddies can be notified that the channel is active, and given the option of viewing the channel (task 820).

The live sports community commentary process 800 may then continually check for a level of inactivity (inquiry task 822). Inactivity may be measured by time with no commentary submission, time with no key stroke, end of the sporting event, and so on. The time may vary depending on the type of commentary (e.g., a bulletin/commentary area is less active), type of sport, load on the system, and other factors. When a predefined measure of inactivity is detected, the commentary channel is set to inactive (task 824). The inactivity may be due to a commentator being interrupted, his/her boss wanting him/her to work instead of use the Internet, losing interest in the event, having another engagement, losing a network (e.g., Internet) connection, a power failure, and the like. Otherwise, the commentary channel stays live (task 826).

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating an example for a consumer side of a live sports community commentary process in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The various tasks performed in connection with process 900 may be performed by software, hardware, firmware, a computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the process method, or any combination thereof. It should be appreciated that process 900 may include any number of additional or alternative tasks, the tasks shown in FIG. 9 need not be performed in the illustrated order, and process 900 may be incorporated into a more comprehensive procedure or process having additional functionality not described in detail herein. For illustrative purposes, the following description of process 900 may refer to elements mentioned above in connection with FIGS. 1-7. In various embodiments, portions of process 900 may be performed by different elements of systems 100-700, e.g., interface, user monitor module, feedback module, web server module, and abuse report module.

Process 900 may begin with a user looking for commentary on a sporting event (task 902). He or she may browse through the different choices available for viewing and the different quality valuations on the commentary channels (task 904). He/she can then choose to view the commentary of his/her choice, for example, ball by ball; over by over, and bulletin. In one embodiment, he/she can choose among the list of commentary producers based on the rating of the community or the number of online consumers' currently viewing different match coverage.

The user may then select a commentary channel (task 906). The method of selection may be by the type of channel. Selecting a ball-by-ball will give a relatively steady stream of commentary, while a bulletin would have more intermittent timing with longer pauses between transmissions. The commentary channels will then be displayed (task 908) on a user interface display such as a webpage, and may be in various forms, sizes, resolutions, and may have other localized display characteristics.

The status of the commentary channel is then checked (inquiry task 910). If the commentary channel is not an active live channel, then the channel view is closed (task 916). If the commentary channel is an active live channel as explained above, then the channel view remains open, and the channel may be viewed by the user as long as desired, or as long as the commentary channel producer or service provider wish to provide it. The user's commentary channel session will usually last for all or part of the duration of the sporting event.

The user may at any time rate the commentary channel (task 912). The rating may be any rating system, such as giving a number of stars (e.g. *, **, ***, etc.) based on the user's valuation of the channel, a letter grade (e.g., A, B, C, etc.), and so on. The user may also report abuse on the channel such as profanity, libel, slander, and so on.

The user may at any time add or select another existing commentary channel (inquiry task 914), in which case the process returns to task 904. The added commentary channel may be for the same sporting event, or a different sporting event. The user also may at any time close the commentary channel (task 916).

Although embodiments of the invention are described herein in terms of sports commentary, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to sports commentary, but is generally applicable to community communication. Furthermore, although the present disclosure has been fully described in connection with embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

While various embodiments of the invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration for the disclosure, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that can be included in the disclosure. The disclosure is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Additionally, although the disclosure is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead can be applied, alone or in some combination, to one or more of the other embodiments of the disclosure, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

In this document, the term “module” as used herein, refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purpose of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skilled in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according embodiments of the invention.

In this document, the terms “computer program product”, “computer-readable medium”, and the like may be used generally to refer to media such as, for example, memory 708, storage devices 710, or storage unit 722 and database. These and other forms of computer-readable media may be involved in storing one or more instructions for use by processor 704 to cause the processor 704 to perform specified operations. Such instructions, generally referred to as “computer program code” (which may be grouped in the form of computer programs or other groupings), when executed, enable the computing system.

It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the invention with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processors or domains may be used without detracting from the invention. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processors or controllers may be performed by the same processor or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as mean “including, without limitation” or the like; the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, a group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read as requiring that each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or” should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of the term “module” does not imply that the components or functionality described or claimed as part of the module are all operable in a common package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of a module, whether control logic or other components, can be combined in a single package or separately maintained and can further be distributed across multiple locations.

Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the invention with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the invention. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method steps may be implemented by, for example, a single unit or processing logic element. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different claims, these may possibly be advantageously combined, and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. Also, the inclusion of a feature in one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this category, but rather the feature may be equally applicable to other claim categories, as appropriate. 

1. A live sports community commentary system, comprising logic for: providing a commentary viewing webpage suitable for presentation on a display, wherein the commentary viewing webpage is operable to present commentary from a commentator; providing a commentary channel selection webpage suitable for presentation on the display, wherein the commentary channel selection webpage is operable to present a set of sports commentary channels; receiving a choice of at least one sports commentary channel from the set of sports commentary channels; and providing at least one sports commentary channel to the commentary viewing webpage based on the choice of at least one sports commentary channel from the set of sports commentary channels.
 2. The live sports community commentary system of claim 1, further comprising: a user monitor module operable to monitor a quantity of consumers of the commentary; and a feedback module operable to provide feedback to the commentator based on the quantity of consumers determined by the user monitor module.
 3. The live sports community commentary system of claim 2, wherein the feedback comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a rating of the commentary, a star rating of the commentary, a letter rating of the commentary, and a number representing the quantity of consumers of the commentary.
 4. The live sports community commentary system of claim 1, further comprising an abuse report module operable to receive complaints of abuse from a consumer of the commentary.
 5. The live sports community commentary system of claim 1, wherein the commentary viewing webpage further comprises an abuse report button operable to allow a consumer of the commentary to report improper commentary.
 6. The live sports community commentary system of claim 1, wherein the commentary viewing webpage further comprises an overview area operable to present an overview of an event, and a commentary viewing area operable to present the commentary.
 7. The live sports community commentary system of claim 1, further comprising a commentary submission webpage, wherein the commentary submission webpage comprises: a commentary composing area for the commentator to enter the commentary; and a submit button for the commentator to send the commentary to the commentary viewing area.
 8. A method for live sports community commentary, the method comprising: receiving a sports commentary from a commentator; providing the sports commentary for presentation on a webpage; determining a number of viewers of the sports commentary; and providing feedback to the commentator based on the number of viewers.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving an abuse report, wherein the abuse report comprises a complaint about the sports commentary; and modifying the feedback based on the abuse report.
 10. A computer-readable medium comprising program code for providing live sports community commentary, the program code for: receiving a sports commentary from a commentator; and providing the sports commentary for presentation on a webpage.
 11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising program code for: determining a number of viewers of the sports commentary; and providing feedback to the commentator based on the number of viewers.
 12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising program code for: receiving an abuse report, wherein the abuse report comprises a complaint about the sports commentary; and modifying the feedback based on the abuse report.
 13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the feedback comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a rating of the commentary, a star rating of the commentary, a letter rating of the commentary, and a number representing the quantity of consumers of the commentary.
 14. A computer-readable medium comprising program code for providing live sports community commentary, the program code for: providing a listing of a set of sports commentary channels for browsing on a first webpage; enabling selection of at least one sports commentary channel from the set of sports commentary channels; and providing sports commentary from the at least one sports commentary channel for display on a second webpage.
 15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising program code for reporting a complaint about a sports commentary channel from the set of sports commentary channels.
 16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising program code for evaluating a sports commentary to produce a rating for a sports commentary channel from the set of sports commentary channels, and providing the rating for display on the first webpage.
 17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising program code for enabling: browsing for additional sports commentary channels on the first webpage to obtain additional sports commentary channels; and providing the additional sports commentary channels for display on the second webpage.
 18. An interface for presentation on a webpage, the interface comprising: a listing of commentary channels operable for choosing at least one commentary channel by a user; and at least one popularity indicator for each of the commentary channels in the listing of commentary channels.
 19. The interface of claim 18, further comprising a sorting option icon operable for activation by the user, wherein activation of the sorting option creates a presentation order of the listing of commentary channels.
 20. The interface of claim 18, further comprising a favorites icon operable for activation by the user, wherein activation of the favorites icon causes the listing of commentary channels to be obtained from a database of favorite commentary channels.
 21. The interface of claim 18, further comprising at least one description for each of the commentary channels in the listing of commentary channels.
 22. The interface of claim 18, wherein the at least one popularity indicator comprises a star rating.
 23. The interface of claim 18, wherein choosing the at least one commentary channel by the user causes the at least one commentary channel to be presented on a commentary viewing webpage, wherein the commentary viewing webpage comprises: an overview area operable to present an overview of a sports event; a commentary viewing area operable to present commentary for the sports event; and an abuse report button operable to allow the user to report improper commentary.
 24. The interface of claim 20, further comprising: a first button for adding a commentary channel to the database of favorite commentary channels; and a second button for removing a commentary channel from the database of favorite commentary channels.
 25. The interface of claim 18, wherein the commentary channels are operable to receive commentary from a commentary submission webpage, and wherein the commentary submission webpage comprises: at least one commentary composing area operable to receive input from a commentator; and at least one submit button operable to allow the commentator to send the commentary to at least one of the commentary channels. 